Words to Raise Children By

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Children who are read to regularly from early ages develop lifelong skills that can’t be acquired from a VCR or the Disney Channel. They become better listeners and find it easier to pay attention in school. Their vocabularies grow rapidly, and grammar seems less mysterious to them. They don’t immediately lose interest in any idea that is harder to grasp than a television commercial. They develop the patience to follow a complex problem to its solution. They become better writers all by themselves, through their ample powers of imitation.

…Good readers do better in school, score higher on standardized tests…attend better colleges, hold more interesting jobs, write more persuasive legal briefs, make better conversation, and become less and less likely to gripe about being bored…

Most of all, children who grow up immersed in books develop the ability to answer their own questions….Gradually, they acquire a skill shared by the greatest scholars in the world: the ability to educate themselves…

Reading is one of the things I thank my parents for every chance I get. We grew up with TV, but we were not allowed unlimited watching times. I was the oldest and only girl – and the only one to develop a lifelong love of reading books, but my brothers developed all the other characteristics of children raised on books.

The rest of this comment is on a different topic: SCIENCE FICTION BECOMES SCIENCE FACT. This is just so cool, I have to pass it along. And, I might be going out on a limb here, but I think Dana and perhaps a few Dana-maniacs are Star Wars fans and thus might appreciate it. (Something about all those references made by various characters in her books).

Remember Tatooine, Luke Skywalker’s home-planet? Has two “suns” and therefore two sunsets? Well, NASA has just discovered the first real planet which does indeed orbit two stars. (The study was reported in the journal Science last Friday). Alas, the planet does not seem to be habitable.

Though I agree with the sentiment, in my case it doesn’t hold true. My mother never read to me but I was and am a voracious reader. I can’t remember not knowing how to read and really think I might die if I couldn’t read. Swerve to — as soon as I get paid, I’m getting “Restless in the Grave.”